The Open Rights Group (ORG) informs us that 10,000 UK citizens have written to MPs in less than three days to demand a debate on the controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB). The DEB seeks to combat internet copyright infringement (downloading of illegal music etc.) but its proposed solutions, such as website blocking and broadband ISP disconnection for "suspected" abusers, have caused serious concern.


The news comes on the same day that YouTube, which many fear could be under threat from the bill, revealed that Viacom had deliberately "roughed up" uploaded videos to make them look stolen or leaked; thus helping its copyright case against the free and popular video sharing website.

Those MPs who cast aside fears that websites like YouTube could be blocked should pay attention. Viacom has accused YouTube of "massive intentional copyright infringement" and is waiting for a court to rule on its £660m suit against the site.


The stark reality is that if you look deep enough then any video could potentially contain sounds or imagery that one might consider to be copyright of somebody else. The irony for many people is that they are also places where you can discover new talent and creations, without which Rights Holders might actually find themselves being considerably worse off.

European Satellite operator Eutelsat has announced the completion of a key communications module for its forthcoming KA-SAT broadband internet satellite. The development will allow KA-SAT's Tooway service, which is expected to launch by the end of this year, to offer improved download speeds of 'up to' 10Mbps to rural parts of the UK.

The existing Eutelsat Tooway service can be purchased through several UK Satellite ISPs (e.g. Tariam Homenet), which offers download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, uploads of up to 0.38Mbps (384Kbps) and a 2.4GB monthly usage allowance for around £33.25 inc. VAT per month. There's also a £29.99 connection fee and hefty £399 hardware price to consider.


It's understood that the new communications module has now been transferred from Astrium’s manufacturing facilities in Portsmouth to Toulouse, France, and integrated with the KA-SAT service module for testing before its launch. The new satellite will not only bring faster speeds but it could also improve performance, price and usage allowances, if perhaps not immediately.

Satellite has the advantage of being able to reach 100% of the country, though it's performance is often less reliable than fixed line counterparts. Prices can also be extremely high and usage allowances are often very meagre, not to mention problems with high latency (fast paced online multiplayer games are a big no-no).

Eutelsat's faster satellite will go head to head with HYLAS1 from UK rival Avanti , which is targetted to enter operation by September 2010. HYLAS1 should deliver download speeds of up to 8Mbps, though details about price, hardware and usage allowances have yet to be decided.

It's worth remembering that while Satellite is far from perfect it can still provide a useful alternative in remote locations where fixed line broadband solutions cannot yet reach or fail to function properly. However as a long term solution its usefulness remains questionable.

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has rejigged its Mobile Broadband and included Netbook computer bundles. Prices start from £25 per month for a 1GB Mobile Broadband package and either a Samsung N130 or Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook (24 month contract). The price rises to £30 if you want a bigger 3GB usage allowance.

Samsung N130
* Operating System - Windows 7 Starter
* Hard Drive - 160GB
* Battery - 6 Cell
* CPU - Intel ® Atom Processor N270 (1.60GHz)
* RAM - 1GB
* Web camera - 0.3 Mega pixel
* Screen - 10.1" WSVGA (1024 x 600), Non-Gloss, LED Back Light
* Weight - 1.2Kg

Dell Inspiron Mini 10
* Operating System - Windows XP
* Hard Drive - 160GB
* Graphics - Intel GMA 950 (Int. Graphic)
* CPU - Intel® Atom Processor Z530 (1.60GHz)
* RAM - 1GB
* Web camera - 1.3 Mega pixel
* Screen - 10.1" WSVGA (WLED) Truelife display

We did some checking and by themselves it's possible to buy both Netbooks separately for around £250. Similarly a 3GB Mobile Broadband package (12 month contract) when purchased separately would cost £15 per month. A free USB Modem (Dongle) is included.

Cable giant Virgin Media UK has revealed that its future 200Mbps broadband (DOCSIS 3) service trials will be showcased as part of this years Ideal Home Show event in Earls Court London (20th March - 5th April). The move follows news last month that VM had expanded its 200Mbps trials (here).

Official trials of the 200Mbps service only began last year and the product itself is unlikely to surface until there is enough demand. However a tentitive launch window of 2012 has previously been hinted at. Trials of faster upstream speeds, including up to 20Mbps, are also underway.


However if you simply cannot wait for Virgin Media to rollout its 200Mbps service then its new superfast 100Mbps broadband package should go live by the end of this very year.

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has today urged government MPs not to delay the controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), despite widespread opposition. Concern over the bill mounted after it rushed through proposals aimed at forcing UK broadband ISPs to block copyright infringing websites and disconnect "suspected" illegal ISP file sharers.


Many would probably disagree that the bill has had "scrutiny in the Lords to excess," especially after the significant website-blocking Amendment 120A surfaced and gained approval within the space of around two weeks.

Few would disagree that copyright infringement does need to be tackled but, as it stands today, there are more than a few problems with DEB. Not least over the lack of detail in how those "checks and balances" or the appeal process itself will work.

Those living on the islands of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark look set to benefit after Cable & Wireless Guernsey (C&WG) announced a major broadband network upgrade to its Bailiwick’s wholesale operations. Broadband users on the islands can initially expect speeds to double, with even faster performance to follow.

From 1st May customers of all local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) could get up to double the broadband speed for the same price. All 2Mbps residential broadband lines will be enhanced to 'up to' 4Mbps and all 4Mbps lines will be upgraded to 'up to' 8Mbps. We note that the 8Mbps service will not be upgraded until the next stage of the programme but the current wholesale price of 8Mbps is to be reduced by 37%.


C&W last upgraded Guernsey’s broadband network in 2008 from 1Mbps to 2Mbps and has been busy rolling out new street boxes (MSAN's) closer to population centres. Sadly some 5% of households will not be within reach of the improved network and no timetable has been set to resolve this problem.


Residents will no doubt be pleased at the news and C&W claims to be investing more than £1 million per year into its access network for ongoing network maintenance and upgrades. However it is still many years behind mainland UK, where up to 8Mbps ADSL based broadband products have been common for quite a few years.

Mobile operator and ISP O2 UK (Telefonica) has accused rights holders and their hired lawyers of bullying and threatening their customers. The outburst centre’s around letters from ACS:Law solicitors, which use questionable methods to identify "suspected" illegal p2p file sharers before gaining personal details from ISPs. ASC:Law then demand hundreds of pounds in compensation or threaten a day in the courts.


The practice of sending such letters has been widely criticized by consumer groups, judges and ironically even Rights Holders; often the very same ones who seek to use a similar practice themselves. The data they use to identify users is also prone to error and even when correct it can only identify the owner of a connection and not necessarily the individual responsible.

ACS:Law tracks abuse by monitoring the Internet Protocol ( IP ) address of online users, which is assigned to your computer each time you go online. However this is not an effective way of determining a computer user’s true identity. IP’s can easily be faked, hijacked, redirected and generally abused and used in ways that the systems employed by such trackers cannot detect.

During June 2009 the UK Internet Service Providers Association ( ISPA ) said that they were "not confident in [ACS:Law's] ability to identify [ILLEGAL] users", a position matched by consumer magazine Which? and many others.


We doubt many people receiving such letters would treat such a harsh demand for cash or court action as "an enquiry". ACS:Law also refers to copyright infringement as "stealing", which would be criminal and thus a matter for the police, though at the present time it remains a civil issue. This is of course very debatable.

In the meantime ACS:Law and its practice of sending such threat letters is, much like its predecessor Davenport Lyons, currently under investigation by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA). The SRA could end up referring ACS:Law to a disciplinary tribunal, again just like Davenport Lyons (here).

A new Paris-based TERA Consultants study of internet piracy in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain has revealed that illegal file sharing could cost European states 1.2m jobs and £215bn by 2015. The study was commissioned by the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCP) and has been endorsed by trade unions and rights holders alike.

It claims that in 2008 the European Union's creative industries contributed 6.9%, or approximately £770 billion, to total EU GDP, and represented 6.5% of the total workforce, or approximately 14 million workers. However in the same year the EU allegedly lost £8.94bn and 186,000 jobs to internet piracy.

In the UK alone it was estimated that 39,000 jobs and £1.4bn in retail revenue were lost to internet piracy. If no action is taken then the study predicts that this figure will climb to reach 254,000 by 2015, and see losses of £6.98bn in retail revenue.


Naturally Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group (ORG) has already branded this report as little more than the usual "corporate propaganda being deployed in order to justify intrusions on our rights to freedom of speech, privacy and to a fair trial," which is a reference to the current Digital Economy Bill (DEB) controversy over ISP disconnection and website blocking proposals.

Interestingly almost none of the other reports on this story have mentioned the global economic crisis. We suspect that the outbreak of a certain global recession in that very same year might have been opportunistically overlooked. In any case the sale of legal digital music downloads continues to grow (here).

Fixed line broadband internet provider PlusNet has leaked preliminary details of its new and revamped range of packages for April 2010. We have has also informed that customers who order an existing package before 29th March will get a price freeze for the next 12 months.

The changed packages will be introduced on 12th April and there will be a new Pro product going live too. Please be aware that the details we're posting below are just a sneak peak and could still be subject to change.

Plusnet Value

* Market 1&2: £6.49 for 3 months, then £12.99 after
* Market 3: £6.49
* 10GB usage allowance between 8am – Midnight
* Free usage between Midnight – 8am
* Dynamic IP only
* Post-pay £5 per 5GB
* Up to 8Mb (ADSL Max) Speeds

Plusnet Extra (replaces Premium)

* Market 1 & 2 £11.49 for 3 months, then £17.99 after
* Market 3 £11.49
* 60GB of usage allowance between 8am – Midnight
* Free usage between Midnight – 8am
* Up to 20Mb (ADSL2+) where available
* Post-pay £5 per 5GB
* Static IP available

Plusnet Pro

* Market 1 & 2: £16.49 for 3 months, then £22.99 after
* Market 3: £16.49
* 20GB usage allowance from 8am – Midnight
* Free usage from Midnight – 8am
* Up to 20Mb (ADSL2+) where available
* Static IP available
* Post-pay £5 per 5GB

We note that the Value package is more or less unchanged and will see a slight price rise, similarly the new Premium package replacement (Extra) is also slightly cheaper, though the 80GB usage allowance has been swapped for 60GB.

By contrast the new Pro package details appear to charge significantly more for significantly less than Extra, which leads us to believe that the information for this package is incorrect or missing something. Take the Pro info. with a pinch of salt until PlusNet's official reveal.

PlusNet typically charges based off Ofcom's "Market" 1, 2 and 3 classifications. This is directly connected to BT and its regulation. For example, customers living in Market 3 areas have plenty of ISP choice and thus services are usually cheaper. Put your phone number into our 'Broadband Coverage Checker' to find out which market your line falls into.

Regulator Ofcom UK has announced strict new mandatory rules designed to stop the mis-selling and slamming of landline services, which will come into effect from tomorrow. Telecoms companies and ISPs that fail to comply are likely to face fines of up to 10% of their turnover.

One of the most abused forms of mis-selling is known as slamming and we detail it HERE. Slamming is where customers are switched from one ISP to another without their knowledge or consent. In some cases you might only be aware of this once you’ve received bills from a different company.

The new rules will:

•prohibit telecoms providers from engaging in misleading and inappropriate sales and marketing activity and slamming;

•require telecoms companies to keep better records of their sales and marketing activities;

•confirm the type and level of information that needs to be made available to new customers both at the point of sale and after the sale has been concluded (but before the service has actually been transferred). This includes providing important information about the key terms and conditions of the service, including contractual liabilities and cancellation rights;

•introduce new rules to make clear when providers are allowed to cancel orders placed by other providers. Cancelling orders for purposes other than those expressly specified by the regulations will be prohibited.

The rules, known more technically as General Condition 24 (GC24), will be accompanied by a standard monitoring and enforcement programme to help keep tabs on any violations. Slamming and mis-selling are the most complained about issues to Ofcom in the fixed line market, averaging about 750 complaints per month over the last year.

Examples of mis-selling issues reported to Ofcom by consumers include:

•receiving calls from telecoms providers pretending to be another company;

•telecoms providers incorrectly advising consumers of package costs; and

•telecoms providers not properly informing consumers of any Minimum Contract Periods and Early Termination Charges that might be applicable.

Ofcom has previously investigated 14 companies for breaches of the current regulations and even fined two companies the maximum 10% of turnover for failing to comply.

General Condition 24:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/nwbnd/statement.pdf

Software giant Microsoft has released the first platform preview version of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), which promises to match Firefox's commitment to standards (HTML5, CSS3 etc.). IE9 will also introduce a new JavaScript engine to improve rendering speed and web application performance; it claims this will faster than most of its rivals, except Google Chrome and Opera.


The preview can be downloaded below but, being a limited engine-code test, it is only of use for developers and does not yet comprise what you would expect from a fully fledged website browser. There are also likely to be many bugs. Further details can be found on Microsoft's IE Blog.

Download IE9 Platform Preview:
http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/info/ThankYou/Default.html

The UK Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS), which represents 65,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, has today announced a 2.6% rise in annual revenues to £623m. Online revenues from legal licensed digital music services grew 72.7% to £30.4m. Wait, wasn’t illegal P2P file sharing by broadband ISP users supposed to be killing music? Hmm.

Similarly back in January the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) issued its Digital Music Report 2010, which revealed that global digital music trade revenues reached £2.6 billion (up 12%) in 2009 (here). IFPI still managed to blame piracy for a decline, despite the obvious contradiction.


Unlike most other reports the PRS does at least manage to avoid making the same contradictions as IFPI and other rights holders have; often speaking of decline at the alleged behest of piracy while at the same time reporting growing revenues from digital downloads. Presenting the worst case scenario is obviously beneficial for them and helps when writing the government’s copyright policy, but it may not be an entirely accurate representation.